


The Demon Nightclub Underneath Eren's Bed

by Tammyiia



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Demons, Eren Is a Little Shit, Hanji being crazy, Jean the babysitter, Levi is a badass, M/M, Magic, Memory Loss, No Name, Prince!Eren, Supernatural - Freeform, Torture, Warlocks, artist!Eren, fey, orphan!eren, other mythical creatures, powers, spells
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-05
Updated: 2018-08-24
Packaged: 2019-04-18 23:16:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,348
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14223945
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tammyiia/pseuds/Tammyiia
Summary: Eren keeps hearing music at stupid times in the night, finally having enough of it he tells his roommate, Jean, that he's getting to the bottom of it once and for all. Eren finds the music is coming from under his bed, where a door just happens to be. He opens it to find another world, not that he knows it. Jean does though, and there's a lot he's keeping a secret.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I haven't abandoned my other stories. i just have no time at the moment and this has been sitting on my computer for weeks waiting to be put up. I hope you guys like it. Let me know!!

“You’re freaking kidding me!” Eren groaned, bringing his pillow over his face and trying to block out the ungodly loud music.

Like clockwork the people downstairs would turn on their music as 2am. 2am, when everyone should be going to bed and not playing dance-anthem-techno-rock-shit! Eren was beyond annoyed and what annoyed his even more was his flatmate that denied hearing anything even though the sound of it made Eren’s bed shake.

There was no chance that Jean couldn’t hear the music from the people below. Was he lying to piss him off? Probably.

Eren groaned and got up from his bed. This time he wasn’t playing.

Wearing nothing but his boxer shorts he pulled on a dressing robe and stomped out of his room and across the hall. He knocked on Jean’s room and without waiting for an answer, walked straight in.

Jean’s room was immaculate, everything had a place and there wasn’t a spec of dirt in sight. He didn’t have a lot of personal items, Jean liked the minimalistic life. Whereas Eren was probably the messiest person he knew. All his things were in places, sure, but there wasn’t any method to it. He also had a chair that hosted all his washing that was too clean for the washing machine and too dirty for his wardrobe.

“What the hell, Eren!” Jean hissed, sat at his computer, his bed still made. He closed off his emails and turned around.

“They’re playing music again!” Eren complained.

Jean rolled his eyes. “I don’t think so. They moved out last week. The apartment below us is empty.”

Eren stomped his foot in frustration. “ I’m telling you, it’s not. Come to my bedroom. I swear to god.”

Jean sighed and got up. Eren turned tail and stalked back into his room. Jean was still fully clothed, Eren didn’t understand how he could still be wearing people clothes instead of stripping off the moment he got home. Jean was definitely a weird one.

The noise from below was loud. The floor felt as if it was vibrating and Eren turned around with a smug expression on his face.

“See, I freaking told you so.” Eren folded his arms.

Jean stopped by his door, eyes wide as he stared at Eren’s bed. There was a light coming from under it. Jean cursed under his breath.

“Yeah, I can hear it now. I’ll give the landlord a call and let him know.” Jean offered.

Eren laughed. “Oh, I don’t think so. I’m going down there to give them a piece of my mind.”

Jean grabbed Eren by the shoulder as he tried to barge his way past.

“What about you sleep in my room tonight. I’ve got a load of work to do anyway so I’m probably not going to sleep for a while yet.” Jean said with a shrug.

Eren narrowed his eyes and wondered why Jean, the famous horse faced dick, was being so nice to him but he wasn’t going to give up the chance for a good nights sleep.

“Sure, I’ll take you up on that just let me get my pillow.” Eren said with a smirk as he turned around. Jean wasn’t fast enough to stop him. He just hoped that Eren wouldn’t see.

Of course, that was asking too much.

Eren was frozen in the middle of his room looking at the flashing lights coming from under his bed with a frown. _Had a keyring got under there or something?_ Eren got onto his hands and knees and looked under his bed, freezing.

“Jean, there’s a door under my bed.” Eren said perplexed.

Jean slapped a hand over his eyes and groaned. Composing himself he said. “what are you talking about, Eren? You must be more tired that I thought”

Eren jumped to his feet. He pushed his double bed, usually in the middle of the room, to the wall. Through the clothes and art accessories that had found their way under his bed was a door. A god damn door! With flashing lights and music coming from it.

Eren was also convinced then that he was dreaming but Jean was here and he must have been seeing it too.

“There’s a door.” Eren breathed.

Jean looked up at the celling and shook his head. “Wow, that’s strange. A door under your bed. Must be to the other apartment below.” He said woodenly, as if he was putting on an act.

Eren turned to look at his incredulously. He pointed at the door and squeaked. “That wasn’t there when we moved in.” He rolled up the sleved of his dressing gown and put his hand on the doorknob. “I’m opening it.”

“Eren, we shouldn’t!” Jean said quickly as he marched over to Eren.

Eren glared at his with determination. “Why don’t you want me to open this door, Jean?”

“You’re kidding, right? It’s a goddamn door that somehow appeared out of nowhere” jean waved his hands around.

Eren nodded and stepped back. Jean sighed in relief. Eren walked over to his chair of semi-clean clothes and started to pull on his skinny balck jeans.

“what are you doing, Eren?”

“Getting dressed.” Eren answered as he threw his dressing gown off and pulled over a green shirt.

“Why are you getting dressed?” Jean groaned.

Eren raised an eyebrow as he pulled on his black doc martins and grabbed his leather jacket.

“I’m going through the door.”

Jean gaped like a fish as he looked between Eren and the door. He crossed his arms and made very obvious ‘no’ motion. He went to stand in front of the door.

“I can’t let you do that.”  

Eren smirked. “You’re not stopping me. Why the hell are you being so weird?” He said as he pushed Jean out the way. Jean pushed back, resulting in Eren punching him in the jaw. Jean fell to the floor.

“What the hell, man?”

“The hell me? The hell you?” Eren shouted. “You’re being very weird about this, Jean.”

“IT’S A RANDOM DOOR TO ANYWHERE!”

“I thought it was a door to the apartment below, Jean.” Eren said smugly as his hand returned to the doorknob. He pulled it open.

Light flooded the room, flashing blue, red and green the music thundered through the room. Some sort of metal band was playing but Eren couldn’t quite place them. He peered into the light, seeing stairs that went down into what looked like a nightclub. A night club under his bed that was playing some sort of metal band. Eren glanced back at Jean and raised an eyebrow.

“You coming or what?”

Jean signed in exasperation as he watched Eren’s head start to disappear under the floor.

“why me? Why did I get this assignment?” Jean groaned as he followed Eren.

*~*~*~*~*

Jean followed after Eren at a subdued pace. He knew he was going to be getting into so much trouble for this as the younger man bounced ahead of him down the stairs and into the flashing lights.

Posters lined the walls, half falling down in some places. Jean didn’t pay any attention to them and as Eren bounded down the last few steps he quickened his pace to keep in with him.

“This looks like a freaking nightclub!” Eren exclaimed as he spun in the small hallway.

Jean scoffed and folded his arms. “Maybe we should call the landlord and go back upstairs. It could be an illegal rave for all we know.” Jean tried to reason with him.

“Hell no! I’m going to find whoever is running this place and tear them a new one for disturbing my beauty sleep.” Eren claimed as he marched on ahead.

Jean sighed, seeing a door at the end of the wall and a tall woman standing in front of it. Even in the dim lighting he could see her bored expression as she inspected her nails.

Eren reached her before Jean. “What are you supposed to be? The bouncer?” Eren asked.

The girl rolled her eyes. “Yeah, dumbass, I see you’re a newbie. Password?” She asked.

Jean grimaced and waved from behind Eren’s back in a very clear ‘do not let him in’ motion. The girl seeing this, smirked. She looked Eren up and down and grinned.

“That corridor literally leads to my bedroom, don’t think I need a password.” Eren snapped.

“Oh, my mistake! Enjoy your night.” She swung the door open. Jean was suddenly hit by the strong smell of sweat, alcohol and something that he hadn’t smelt in a while, blood.

Jean rushed forwards as Eren walked ahead and into the crowd of pulsing bodies. The music was loud, making his body vibrate, the lights flashed around the room almost blinding him but all he could think about was how much trouble he was going to be in.

“What in the world are you playing at, Ymir? Did you not see my gestures?” Jean complained.

Ymir smirked. “Yeah, I saw. You didn’t want your little human friend finding out your big, bad secret.” She leaned forwards and winked. “I hope he has a nice night in hell.”

Jean glared at her as he stomped past. “Fuck you, Ymir. He isn’t my dirty little secret. He’s my assignment.”

Ymir’s eyes widened as he peered into the club. “Welp, I was not expecting that. Good luck, I guess.” She said as she pushed Jean through the open entrance.

Jean felt a wave of energy cascade over him. It felt as if he was walking though multiple cobwebs as it brushed against his face and rippled through his clothes. Jean felt the carefully put spells that he had put in place being poked at. Jean flexed his fists and the feeling melted away.

“Huh, guess that’s why you were picked for that assignment.” Ymir commented before she slammed the door shut.

Jean jumped slightly and turned to the nightclub.

He couldn’t see where Eren had ran off too. The bar was to the right of him and stretched the whole way to the back of the dance floor. A stage in front of him had a band on that Jean hadn’t seen in a while, with bandages covering their faces and a heavy metal vibe streaming through the nightclub.

Jean spotted Eren at the bar, talking to a dark haired bartender that was munching on the bar nuts. She was smiling at Eren, Jean saw a drink being passed over.

“Oh, fuck me.” Jean groaned as he marched forwards only for his arm to be grabbed.

He turned quickly, looking down at the hand on his arm, training up to the smiling face before he was pulled into a quick hug.

“I can’t believe you’re here! Its so good to see you.”

“Marco!” Jean said in shock as he looked over the dark haired man. He was wearing his patrol uniform still. The white trousers and tan jacket looking out of place.

“I thought you had that big shot bodyguard job, what are you doing here?” He asked with a smile. They could heart each other perfectly, even though the harsh pounding of base.

Jean simply pointed at the bar where Eren was now joking with the barmaid and eating olives that she was sneaking him. “That is why I’m here. A freaking door opened in his room and now I’m in this mess.” He gestured wildly around himself.

Marco gaped. “Is that…? No way! I have to go introduce myself.”

Jean grabbed him by the arm and pulled him back before he could flit his way over to Eren.

“I’ve still got a chance of righting this, we just have to get him back upstairs.”

“He’s come through a portal into a demon nightclub, how are we getting you out of this?” Marco snorted.

Jean groaned and put his hands over his face.

“I don’t know, Illegal nightclub rave is still better than this.” Jean complained.

Marco grinned, showing a set of pearly white teeth that were just pointed enough to get away as being human.

“You could just tell him, he’s what, 23? He’s almost there.”

“Almost isn’t 25, Marco.”

The singer in the nameless band started to do his solo, singing out to the crowd in a melodic tone that lulled you into watching him. Almost like a sirens song, calling in the darkness. The bandages covered his face, making him unrecognisable but for the undercut he sported.

Eren watched enraptured by the lyrics. It felt as if the lead singer was singing to him personally, the whole room seemed to melt away and Eren wanted nothing more than to talk to the man with the alluring voice.

“So, what did you say your name was again?” The brunette asked.

Eren turned away and grinned at her. “I didn’t.” He stated, looking down at the drink she’d poured for him. “You’re sure I don’t have to pay for this?”

“Nah, freebie for the new human.” She said with a wink.

Eren raised a single eyebrow and shrugged. Sasha was weird but she’d happily introduced herself and poured him a free drink so Eren couldn’t complain, no wait, yes he could. That was the exact reason he came here, to complain.

“Look, I didn’t come here to drink and you’re really nice and everything but the door with the surly bouncer leads to my bedroom and this whole thing,” Eren gestures around the place. “Cannot be legal. It’s under my bedroom for gods sake!”

Sasha frowned. “The door leads to _your_ bedroom, now that is strange.” She stuffed some more nuts into her mouth. “It should only open for de-“

“Hey! There you are good buddy! Thought I’d lost you, man.” Jean slapped a hand down on Eren’s shoulder.

Jean shot a pointed glare at Sasha, who’s eyes widened dramatically at seeing Jean. She looked between Eren and Jean with sudden understanding.

“Jean, what the fuck? You interrupted us.” Eren complained.

“Yeah, sorry bro, but I’ve filed a complaint with the owner and he’d going to make sure that you won’t hear the music anymore. Great right, we can leave.” Jean said, trying to steer Eren towards the doors.

Eren put him feet down firmly and spun out of Jean’s hold, grabbing his drink from the bar. A clean concoction that Sasha had mixed with a bluish tint on the top. She’d called it a soul buster, some weird cocktail, Eren had no doubt.

“I’m going to finish my drink first, plus, the band it kind of catchy.” Eren leaned against the bar, challenging Jean to pull him away.

Jean looked from the drink in Eren’s hand to his friend and charge. He grimaced, this was not going to go how he’d planned at all.

Eren raised the glass to his lips. Jean didn’t know what he do, slap it out his hand?

“You can’t drink that!” Sasha exclaimed.

Jean and Eren stared at her in shock as she grabbed the drink from Eren’s hand. “I forgot an ingredient! It won’t taste as good without, I’ll make you a new one. On the house of course.” She babbled.

Jean sighed in relief. Saved by the glutton.

“Thanks, Sasha” Eren grinned.

The girl flushed and started to make a new drink, devoid of actual soul.

The band had stopped playing, there was no announcement from a DJ or words from the band as they slipped off the stage and generic music started to play. Eren pouted, he’d enjoyed listening to them, however strange it was to find a band in the apartment under him bedroom.

“Marco, what are you doing?” Jean complained as an arm was slung over his shoulder.

Eren watched the exchange curiously. The newcomer was tall with freckles all over his face, he was wearing a strange outfit too. White trousers and a tan jacket, really didn’t fit in with the atmosphere of the rocker bar.

“Hey, I’m Marco, it’s really good to meet you. Jean has told me so much about you, you’re an artist right, I’d love to see some of your art one day.” Marco said with a kind smile.

Eren glanced at Jean with a frown, where did he find a friend so nice and in this weird ass place too?

“Eren, nice to meet you, I guess.” Eren said hesitantly.

“Oi, you’re blocking the bar, brat” A deep voice said from the side of Eren.

Jean spun around quickly to face Marco, asking the other ‘what the hell they were supposed to do’ because this sure as hell wasn’t in the job description.

Eren felt his face flush in anger. He spun around and glared down at the shorter man. He was only a couple of inches shorter, Eren noted, and damn was he good looking. Pale with a strong jaw line, eyes the colour of molten silver, hair so dark that Eren thought he could see a purple tint. But that all went through Eren as his anger won over.

“The bar is huge, find another place, shorty.”

The man raised a perfect eyebrow.

Jean cringed and leant into Marco, groaning for what was about to happen.

“Hoh, answering back to me, not bad.” The dark haired man taunted, he grabbed Eren by the chin and glared into his eyes.

Eren glared right back, wanting to slap the hand away from his face. He couldn’t do it though, as he glanced into those eyes he felt his anger starting to slip away his mind becoming foggy. It was as if he was trying to look at the sun from the bottom of a pool, it was bright but muffled and the sound was all wrong.

Eren shook himself out of it and slapped the hand away. “Back of, Levi.” Eren hissed.

The dark haired man, Levi, eyes widened at the uttering of his name. he couldn’t believe that the brat would start a fight with him, knowing who he was and what he could do. He could throw him in the royal dungeon, if he so desired. He could behead him here and now and nobody would bat an eyelash. Damn, he could kick the kids face in and nobody would say a word against him. So why was this brat different?

Eren frowned and put a hand to his head, that was suddenly throbbing in pain. He closed his eyes against the onslaught of lights, falling backwards slightly.

Levi didn’t know what had come over him as he reached out and steadied the younger man, a ripple going through his body as they touched.

“Who are you? I don’t…I think I’m going to be sick.” Eren suddenly announced.

Jean rushed into action and pulled Eren back to him. Levi’s eyes widened at the sight of the young man with two-toned hair.

“Jean, my head hurts…” Eren hissed.

Jean glanced over at Levi, his face aflame as he pulled his charge away from the older man. “Let’s get home, Eren.”

Levi’s hand grasped at nothing as the two men walked away from him. Jean pulled Eren fasted towards the door as the younger of the two stumbled over his own feet, grasping his head in both hands as he groaned in pain.

“…Eren…” Levi breathed. He took a step towards them, bumping into Marco. “Eren.” He said again as he watched Ymir open the door and usher them through, her face grim when she spotted the state that Eren was in.

“Sir, you can’t.” Marco said as he held him back.

“That was Eren, it can’t be, he’s….”

“He’s not of age yet, sir. It could be dangerous for him if you go any further. Let him go.”

Levi pulled away as the door was closed, blocking Eren from his view.

“So, that’s what Eren looks like now, the little Prince.”

“King, Sir. He’s going to be King.”

Levi bit his lip and turned back towards the bar, slamming his fist on the counter.

The next two years were going to be slow and painful, knowing that Eren was out there. That the Prince that had been stolen away in the middle of the night on his tenth birthday, was coming of age.

That he didn’t remember Levi, not really.

That he didn’t know that he was a Prince.

Hell, that he didn’t know that he was a Demon.

 


	2. Chapter 2

Jean placed Eren down on his bed with the help of Ymir. He’d fallen unconscious as they tried to bring him through the long hallway that lead from the club. Ymir’s face was impassive but for the slight twitch in her eyebrow. Jean bit his lip as he pulled the jacket from Eren and threw it onto his roomate’s chair.

“I cant believe you let him through the portal.” Ymir complained as she helped to pull Eren’s boots off.

Eren thrashed on the bed, his breathing heavy. He stained against Ymir’s hands as she tried to get his clothes off. She rolled her eyes as he went to kick her, grabbing his legs and pulling his jeans down. Thankfully, once they were over his knees Eren could no longer kick at her.

“Can’t you do something about this? I thought you were hired for a reason.” Ymir complained.

Jean grimaced laying a hand on Eren’s clammy head, A warm blue glow emanated from his hand, covering Eren’s head. Eren immediately stopped his thrashing and dropped into a deep sleep.

“What did you do?” Ymir asked, releasing Eren’s legs and finally pulling his jeans off. She threw them on the chair by the side of the room.

Jean collapsed onto the floor by Eren’s head. “A Forth tier memory lock. He keeps breaking out of them though.” Jean said with a huff.

Ymir whistled in appreciation. “That’s a damn heavy spell. How often you gotta cast that thing?” She was wondering around Eren’s bedroom now, picking up a stray paintbrush that had fallen on the fall, giving it a whiff with a look of distaste.

“Tch, I don’t report to you. Thanks for your help getting him back in but also…fuck you.” Jean said standing up protectively over Eren. “He occasionally has mild lapses but tonight was completely avoidable. You shouldn’t have left him through that damn door.”

Jean clenched his fists by his side, itching to punch the older demon. Ymir merely shrugged.

“Like you said, you don’t report to me and I don’t get any reports of the little Princeling, if I knew he was going to lose his shit in there I wouldn’t have opened the ‘damn door’” She said mockingly.

Ymir picked up a sketchbook off the desk and started flipping through it casually. She ran her hand over one particular drawing with a mirth smile on her face. Grinning, she flicked her hand in the air, creating a door.

Jean had seen it so many times before as the large oak door came into being. Ymir‘s magic was tricky, she could open a door to anywhere she’d already been. It was called temporal distortion, if he remembered correctly. She was quite talented in this brand of magic, it wasn’t as great as his attack magic but it did come in handy for making quick escapes.

“Guess I’ll be going now-“

The door rumbled from the other side. Ymir took a step back. Jean a step forwards, making his way around Eren’s bed to stand between him and the shuddering door.

“What’s going on?” Jean readied a shield on magic.

“It’s been overtaken by someone, I have a really bad feeling about this.”

The door rippled again, Jean grimaced, looking back at the sleeping face of his charge. At least if he was awake he could have gotten Eren to run, not that he trusted the other man to actually follow his orders.

The door slowly opened towards them, the bright light behind contrasting greatly to the dark bedroom. It momentarily blinded the two demons. Enough for the figure to walk through and issues an order.

“Stand down.” The familiar voice commanded. Ymir dropped her fighting stance and gave a last salute. Jean on the other hand kept his rigid protective position in front of Eren’s sleeping form, slamming a fist over his heart.

“Sir.”

“Take them.” The figure ordered, stepping away from the doorway.

Four demons waltzed into the door, dressed in the uniforms of the military police. Ymir held up her hands in surrender, the guard nearest to her retrained her hands behind her back, the other moved fasted than Jean could see. One moment he was standing, the next he was on his knees with the breath forced out of him.

The magical shackles that had formed around his wrist and waist, were far more powerful than the glamour erasing barriers that lined the club. That was a rather weak spell that he was able to shrug off. This one on the other hand, felt like someone had ripped a hole into his being and was slowly poring in beetles that ate away at his magic barriers causing them to fall one by one under an onslaught of stings and bites.

Jean felt like screaming out but didn’t want to give his superiors the pleasure, he should have surrendered like Ymir.  Though he didn’t know what they’d done to enforce this level of treatment.

Jean was dragged to his feet and out the room, behind Ymir. He managed to glance back at Eren as the last of them walked out of the bedroom.

Eren hadn’t stirred from his position on top of the bedsheets, sleeping peacefully. Jean hoped he’d be back before he woke up.

*-*-*

 

Eren awoke with a splitting headache. His eyes opened slowly to his darkened room, the curtains still drawn. He turned to his bedside table, the small clock on the side blinking, telling him that it was already noon. Eren groaned and drew his arm over his eyes to block out what little sun was trying to escape through his curtains.

He tiredly tried to force himself to sit up. His head felt like someone had stuffed it full of cotton wool. Migraines weren’t an unusual occurrence for Eren, they seemed to come on at least once a month and usually with the added bout of memory loss.

It had been that way since the accident he was in as a child. The one that killed his parents, not that he can remember them. He gets flashes every now and again, he tries to sketch out their face’s but nothing ever comes of it. They’re just a blur. A kind-hearted voice and a man with glasses. That’s all they were to Eren and he’d come to accept that.

He swung his leg over the bed, realising he fallen asleep in his boxers and…his leather jacket? Eren blinked, looking down at his arms in confusion. Had he put it on in the night? Had he fallen asleep with it still on from the day before? He wasn’t quite sure, he was pulling a blank for yesterday evening.

He pulled his phone from the charger, entering his password he accessed his messages from yesterday. From what he could decipher he’d been messaging the manager of the coffee shop opposite his studio. Complaining about the music from downstairs.

Eren stripped out of the jacket and pulled on a robe, walking out his room, straight into the bathroom. Eren discarded the robe on the side, locking the door as he pulled his shirt over his head. Next went his boxers, till he was standing naked in the bathroom looking into the mirror. He winked at his reflexion before turning on the shower and stepping in once it was the right temperature.

Eren washed himself leisurely. Soaking himself under the blissful heat, washing away all the problems of the night before. Washing away his lack of memory and getting on with his day. He reached for his shampoo and upon finding it empty, grinned to himself as he pulled down Jean’s bottle of expensive stuff. Whilst Eren was living on shampoo and conditioner combo gel, Jean had splurged on the expensive stuff. The kind of shampoo that left Eren’s hair feeling soft and silky and smelling oh so good. The kind of shampoo that cost more than a meal for two at a restaurant. The kind of shampoo that made Jean lose his shit every time he used it.

“Sorry Jean, but a man’s gotta have his silky goodness.” Eren said with little concern as he squeezed an egg sized dollop into his hands and went to work lathering his hair us. “Hmmm, honey, you do spoil me, Jean.”

For the next time minutes Eren was in bliss. Then he had to step out the shower, and you know that feeling, the horrible cold draft as you run to try and find the towel you’d so stupidly forgotten before you got in? Well, Eren was feeling that tenfold.

“Oi horseface?! Get me a towel, will you?” Eren shouted, opening the door just slightly. He awaited Jean’s bitchy complaint, coupled with the accusation of using his shampoo.

But nothing came.

Not a peep, not a whisper.

Which was strange, really strange as Jean usually woke him up before he had to go anywhere. Hde also worked from home, doing some boring crap that Eren never really asked about.

“Jean?!” Eren tried again, a little louder.

 _Maybe’s be just overslept….Yeah right._ Jean never overslept, he always went to bed late and always woke up early, made Eren coffee and occasionally breakfast.

Eren shoved his robe on. The fabric sticking to his skin, not having been designed to get wet. He made his way across the hall and knocked once on Jean’s door before barging in. The bed was empty, so was his desk. The covers were made, like always, so Eren couldn’t even be sure if he’d slept in the room.

Eren walked into the kitchen/living space. The area seemed cold, none of the lights were switched on, the coffee machine wasn’t doing it usual thing, there was no drip, drip, drip as the pot filled only silence, silence, silence.

Eren shivered and retreated to his room to get dressed. He grabbed his phone the minute he saw it and trolled through his messages from Jean. Maybe his roommate had messaged him to say he wouldn’t be in and he’d forgotten. Maybe there’d had the conversation before he’d gone to bed, he vaguely remembered seeing Jean yesterday.

Eren threw his phone onto the bed, fetching the towel and finally drying himself properly. He quickly got dressed for the day, throwing on an old shirt that was covered in paint splotches and a pair of jeans that had seen better days.

He gave his hair a quick dry with the hairdryer and ran his hands through, to give that just got out of bed look.

The headache was still raging behind his eyebrows, almost setting off his teeth. Jean’s special pancake breakfast usually sorted this sort of thing out, but he was AWOL.

Eren sat on his phone and dialled Jean’s number. Pressing the phone to his ear he waited for him to pick up.

“You’ve reached Jean, I can’t come to the phone right now-“

“-Lame!”

“-Fuck you, Eren!”

Beep!

Eren frowned, should he be worried _? No, Jean’s a grown ass man, he’s fine. He’s probably just busy, maybe he got lucky._

Eren hoped that was the case but not wanting to think about Jean’s sex life any longer than necessary, Eren pocketed his phone, grabbed his bag and exited the apartment.

Leaving the eerie silence behind.

*-*-*-*-*-*

Half way to his studio, Eren gets a message from Jean telling him that he has a family emergency and won’t be home for a few days. Eren messages him back straight away, sending his concerns and hoping that everything is okay. Jean doesn’t reply for a while.

“Eren! Why the long face? Neighbours keep you up all night?” The bouncing brunette asked from behind the counter.

“Something like that. You got anything that could get rid of my migraine. It’s a killer this morning, they’re usually gone by now.” Eren said, rubbing his temple.

“What about some chamomile tea, with a spiced apple blend.” Hanji said, wiggling her eyebrows, the glasses moving with her.

“Just tea, you’re not going to put anything weird in it right?” Eren asked, raising an eyebrow.

Thankfully Eren was the only one in earshot at the time, but he would bet his life saving that nobody else would have been able to hear them anyway.

“Just an itsy bit of magic” Hanji stated, using her fingers to indicate what was a little. A blue spark passed between the pointed and thump as she gestured.

Eren sighed, massaging his temple again as a sudden pain throbbed through.

“Okay, maybe just a little.” Eren caved.

Hanji beamed.

“You won’t be disappointed, my favourite little human, I am the best Warlock this side of the hemisphere.”

Eren smiled as she ran around behind the counter, throwing in herbs into a teapot and filling it with boiling water.

He’d know Hanji for almost five years now, since he’d moved into the studio across the way and she’d offered to sell his painting in her café for the aesthetics and to help him make a little money on the side of his art shows.

He’d know she was a Warlock for almost two years, after he’d caught her adding magic to his coffee in the aid of bringing back his forgotten memory after a particularly long weekend, where he barely remembered what he’d had for breakfast on the Saturday.

It had come as a bit of a shock to see her forcing some sort of blue energy into his mug, he’s called her out on it straight away, to her disbelief as she’s claimed she’s put up a barrier in the morning to stop the civi’s from seeing her use it.

She didn’t have the best online reviews just for her coffee blends, it was the little extra that the customer didn’t know about that kept them coming back for more.

“Here we go, sweet tea for my sweetie” She ginned and placed the pop and cup on a tray, ready to be taken over to his seat.

That’s right, his seat.

She pulled the counter up and let him into the back, to sit in a little corner table behind the cake stand. Where nobody could see them and more important of all, hear them.

Eren sat down gratefully and poured the tea, the steam forming intricate tendrils in the air that swirled and disappeared.

He took that first sip and all the tension of the day slipped away along with his headache, Eren sank into the chair and sighed in relief as Hanji took her seat next to him. A girl was serving at the counter, one Eren hadn’t seen before, he was pretty sure she wasn’t human, or anything other than Hanji magic.

 “Feeling better now?”

“Yeah, much better. I wish I could make these headaches disappear forever. I lost another chunk of my day.” Eren frowned.

“I could cast a memory spell for you, but I know how much you dislike magic.”

Eren grimaced. “ It’s not like I don’t like magic, I just think using it for everything is cheating.”

“It’s not cheating if you’re born with it, you just have a few extra points than everyone else.” Hanji retaliated.

“You know you’re one of my best friends, Hanji, but I wasn’t born with magic, I just feel a little out of place using it for my own personal gain.”

Hanji reached across the table and tapped his hand. “I have friends in high places, that let me get away with a lot more than a warlock usually should. I’ve been given permission to use my magic on humans and quite frankly, I do whatever the heck I want.” She grinned. “So helping my bestie, get through his days is the least of my worries.”

“That was so sweet, I think I might barf.”

“Yeah, me too. You know who’s not sweet, my other bestie. He’s a short, grumpy, midget of a demon with a shitty sense of humour.”

Eren chuckled. “My other bestie looks like a horse.”

Hanji snorted.

They continued like this till Eren had finished his tea, and Hanji kicked him out to go and paint. On his way out the door, he almost ran straight into a lithe pixie of a girl with short blonde hair and sapphire blue eyes, rimmed with red, that looked as if she’d been crying for hours.


	3. Chapter 3

Eren spent the rest of his day in the studio across the street from Hanji’s café. Throwing caution to the wind as he painted with reckless abandon. Paint flew into the air, splattering Eren and the covered floor with multicoloured splotches. By the end of the day there was probably more paint on Eren than there was on any of the canvases.

The studio he rented was quite spacious, considering it only had the one room, with a small shower room connected and a little kitchenette that looked out onto Hanji’s café. Eren sometimes liked to stand there with a mug of tea in hand and watch people coming and going from the small café.

On more than one occasion he’d seen someone go in that didn’t quite look like they belonged to the human realm. Men that were tall, broad and fall too graceful for their height. Women with their hair flowing in an ethereal wind on a sunny day without a cloud. Once of twice he’d seen cloaked visages with horns that protruded their hoods, they were the ones that sent chills down Eren’s spine and hand him hiding behind the window lest they spot him. A headache never failed to bloom after seeing them.

Eren washed his hands and checked his phone for the nth time today. Jean hadn’t replied since his last message this morning. Whatever had happened with his family had Eren worried. He didn’t want his flatmate and best friend to lose someone close to him. Eren knew that feeling well, the emptiness of knowing that you’ll never see someone again haunted Eren, even without his memories.

He thought about sending a message off to Jean, to ask it everything was okay, but his mind came up blank with what he put. Everything he tried to type just didn’t sound right, it was stupid to ask if Jean was okay. He didn’t want to make anything worse, so he just left it. Jean would message him if anything happened, he was sure of it.

By the time darkness had started to spread across the sky, blanketing the studio in twilight, Eren had cleaned off his brushes and showered. Leaving a canvas in the middle of the studio to dry. Eren wasn’t sure what to make of this painting. He stared as he changed clothes, putting his paint-splattered ones in a small bag.

The painting was of a dark room with an empty throne-like chair. The colours on the walls seemed to bleed as the paint dripped onto the floor, giving the effect that everything around the chair was slipping away, like trying to catch smoke. Though Eren had painted it he couldn’t decide whether the chair was supposed to be red. It didn’t remind him of plush velvet, the red didn’t look vibrant enough.

_Blood. It looks like Blood._

Eren looked away, picking up his mug and dropping in it the sink, ready to wash tomorrow. He glanced over at Hanji’s café. All the light off, the chairs inside for the night. Eren must have been here longer than he’d thought. Eren locked up his apartment and walked back to his apartment with relative ease.

Upon entering he almost expected to see Jean standing in the kitchen with a beer in hand, ready to start dishing up some concoction of food that he’d attempted for the first time, it always being too unfairly delicious. But all he was met with was darkness and silence. Jean still wasn’t home, and Eren still hadn’t received any messages from him.

He kicked off his shoes, leaving them haphazardly in the hallway, dumping his bag on a chair and sticking his clothes in the washing machine. Eren opened the fridge, frowning at the bareness, he guessed that he’d be having take out tonight. He reached for a bottle of beer instead, sighing as he opened it, sitting on the sofa in silence as he sipped thoughtfully. He didn’t like the apartment like this. It was way too quiet. It felt unnatural.

He’d lived with Jean since he was 14, known him for even longer than that. Having met the first time Eren had tried to run away from the foster home he was staying in. He’d been 12 at the time, Jean had been 17. He’s found Eren sitting around in a park at midnight, swaying forlornly on the swings as his stomach rumbled and his little fingers froze to the chains.

_“Oi, kid, it’s late. What the hell are you doing out here?”_

_Eren’s round childish face was red with cold, a dark bruise just under his eye marred his otherwise flawless complexion. He looked coolly at the newcomer. A tall teenager with a long face like a horse. He wore a fur lined parker, and was kitted out with a hat, gloves and scarf. Eren pulled the too small sleeves of his jumper down and curled his lip upwards in a smirk._

_“What does it look like in doing? I’m sitting on a swing obviously.” Eren snarked back, expecting the teen to tell him to fuck off and walk away. Instead he didn’t the opposite and took a seat on the other swing._

_“Ha ha, very clever. You not out here with friends or something? Where’s your coat? It the middle of December.”_

_Eren looked down at his trainers, an old pair of converse, a size too big for him but with the extra socks he’d stolen this morning at least his feet weren’t cold. Eren shrugged in answer. He felt a warm heat envelop with head as a hat was pilled over his ears and a scarf was wrapped around his neck. Bringing warmth to his cheeks. He looked up at the teen with wide eyes._

_“You’re a runaway right? You don’t have to say anything, I know the look.” He said sitting back on the swing besides Eren. “I’m Jean, by the way.”_

_“Eren.” He said quietly._

Just thinking about that night brought a small smile to Eren’s face. He didn’t know what he would have done if Jean hadn’t found him. He didn’t trust adults and there was no way he would have gone back to his foster family. Instead Jean had walked him to a nearby police station. Eren was made to wait in a little room as Jean talked to the police officer on the desk. Eren vaguely remembered the dazed look on the police woman’s face as she’d written up with paperwork and called social services, finding him a foster house.

He’d kept in touch with Jean, the older teen visiting him once or twice a week. They’d become friends, well, Eren thought of Jean more like an older brother. No matter how angry or pissy Eren got, Jean never abandoned him. No matter how much of a little shit Eren was, Jean never got angry. Two years later, Jean was signing documents to become Eren’s legal guardian. That was the same time that the headaches started to lessen, the same time he started to paint, the same time he finally felt like he belonged. Like he had a family.

Eren finished off his beer, depositing the bottle in the recycling and getting into bed. He sent a message off to Jean before he went to sleep. Telling him he’d gotten pack from his studio safely and he hoped that everything was okay on Jean’s side, reassuring the other that if he needed him he’d be there as fast as he could.

Eren’s didn’t get a reply.

Eren fitfully awoke from his sleep at the sound of music flooding his bedroom, he reached for his phone. His heart pounding, was Jean calling him? His hand knocked his bedside table clumsily, the phone falling off the bed with a clank. Eren rolled out of bed, dropping to his knees as he blurrily opened his eyes and tried to pat for his phone under the bed. His hand connected with the smooth coldness of his mobile but there was no sound coming from in.

The sound seemed to be coming from under his bed, along with a strange flashing. Had a key chain rolled under there of something? Eren flipped on his bedside light, his eyes screaming in protest as they tried to adjust to the bright light.

“Son of a bitch.” Eren moaned as he blinked his vison back to normalcy.

Eren pushed his bed back towards the wall, phone still in hand as stray socks and art crap was revealed. So was a door.

Eren took a step back and frowned. “That the actually crap?” He backed away from the door in the floor and almost shouted out to Jean before remembering that the older man wasn’t at home right now.

Eren unlocked his phone and called Hanji, the phone ringing till it went to voice mail. He tried again and got nothing.

Eren didn’t know what to do. Normally he’d get Jean but with Jean out of the apartment and a random door having appeared under his bed he was at a loss. Eren started to pull clothes of slowly. A niggling itch in the back of his head as he pulled on his black skinny’s, boots and a leather jacket.

Eren tried Hanji one more time. Getting nothing, he steeled himself and went to lift the door handle. He really wished Jean was here. At least then he could feign confidence, knowing that Jean would have his back. Eren flipped open the door, stepping back as music and lights flooded the room. It was a strange mix between metal and pop, that Eren couldn’t help but think catchy.

He frowned to himself before pocketing his phone, grabbing with wallet and with a second though, the beanie and glasses that sat on his bedside table.

“Okay, lets do this.”

The walk down the stepped seemed longer than just to the apartment below, he felt as if he’d been walking for around ten minutes already. How long were theses stairs? The further down he got the more posters he started to see. Old ripped off ones, new ones showing a band with no name and what looked like someone’s attempt at street art. If that someone had no artistic view and just decided to throw paint on the wall. The music was also getting louder, a male’s voice could be heard clearly through the walls and as Eren got to the bottom of the stairs he finally saw where it was coming from.

“This looks like a freaking nightclub.” Eren muttered to himself as a door came into view. Eren slipped the beanie onto his head at the sight of a bouncer.

The guy at the door was short with a buzzcut. He didn’t look like much of a doorman, especially flicking through his phone. What did catch Eren’s eyes was the small horns protruding from his forehead.

Eren almost felt like walking back and retreating to his…well…not bed, that was for certain, maybe his studio. Maybe he’d knock on Hanji’s door till she opened up. Or answered his phone calls.

“Oh! Hey, you wanting to go in man?” The doorman asked with a grin, finally looking up from his phone.

“Ugh, yeah.” Eren said uncertain if this was the right choice.

The guy with the shaved head grinned wider and opened the door, then frowned. “What’s the password?”

“Do I really need a password? That corridor literally leads to my bedroom.”

Eren grimaced _. Maybe don’t tell the stranger with horns where your bedroom is. Great plan, Eren._

It seemed to work though, as the doorman stepped aside with a shrug. “Cool, I’m Connie by the way. Haven’t seen you before, you new to the area? Or have you only just graduated.” Connie snickered as he squinted at Eren. “Come to think of it…are you human?”

Eren laughed. “Human?! Nah, man, can’t you tell I’m a…ugh…warlock.” Eren grit his teeth in a smile hoping that Connie would buy it, he didn’t seem to smart and Eren knew enough about Hanji to be able to disguise himself for at least one night.

“Okay then, have a good night man.” Connie stepped aside.

Eren walked around Connie, a weak smile on his face as he pulled his hat on a little tighter around his ear. He walked through the doorway, feeling something slip over him like walking through smoke. Eren shuddered slightly. He walked a little away from the door before slipping his black rimmed glasses on and pulling out his phone.

Eren took a few pictures, storing them away for memory and to show Hanji later. The band had stopped playing, someone on the stage collecting their instruments. A buzz of music played by the DJ pounded through the speakers at the front.

Eren watched as people (a loose term for them) danced and conversed. He couldn’t help but notice the different skin tones, not the usual ones, nope, blues and green, some almost looked tanned under the lights till Eren distinctly noticed the orange gleam. Eren didn’t even want to go into the varying levels of creepy he was seeing, with split tongues and sharpened teeth.

Eren found himself a stop next to a wall, opposite the bar, with a clear line of the door that he’d come through. Didn’t want to lose that now.  This was like watching the patrons going into Hanji’s café, but stranger. Every now and then he saw someone that looked almost human, till their eyes blinked the wrong way.

Eren didn’t want to freak out, not here, but with the shivers that were starting to set in his spine and the lack of drink in his hand. He had noticed that he was starting to collect the attention of the closest dancers.

He pulled himself off the wall, willing himself to look nonchalant as he held his head high and walked off towards the bar. A dark-haired girl was serving behind the bar, a smile on her face as she sneaked olives into her mouth. Eren made a beeline for her, because she looked normal, she looked human. Their eyes met as Eren stood by the bar, she frowned slightly, narrowing her eyes.

“What can I get for you?”

“…do you do Gin?” Eren asked hesitantly.

“ Sure we do…I’m sorry, have we met somewhere, you look really familiar.” She frowned.

Eren shook his head and adjusted his glasses. “Nope, never been here before. Maybe you’ve seen me around…” He said vaguely.

She frowned but went off to make his drink. “You want tonic water with that?”

Eren nodded and fished out his wallet, fishing out a twenty.

She put the drink down and blinked down at his money. “We don’t take human money here.” She narrowed her eyes at Eren.

Eren smiled his best innocent smile. “Can I start a tab?” He asked in his most charming of voices.

The bartender sighed and pushed the drink towards him. “It’s on me.”

Eren smiled happily. “Thanks Sasha.” He said grabbing the drink and moving away from the bar. Leaving a dumfounded Sasha in his wake, she was sure she hadn’t told him her name.

Eren pulled out his phone and saw that he had three missed calls from Hanji. He quickly redialled.

She picked up on the first ring.

“Hey, what’s wrong sugarplum, it’s 3am….wait…is that music I hear? Are you at a bar?” Hanji said, steadily getting louder.

Eren found a place against the wall again. Making sure nobody was listening in.

“I think I might be, except it’s a bar that was under by bed.”

The line was quiet for a few seconds till Hanji replied. “Are you drunk? Or high?”

“Nope, I’m perfectly sober. Which is kind of more scary.” Eren started to whisper shout into the phone. “There’s people here with horns, horns Hanji!”anjiH

“Oh dear.”

“Oh dear? Oh dear, Hanji?!”

Eren had somehow drawn the attention of a man in a green cape, who looked completely out of place among the dark clothed individuals. He was taller than Eren, with mousy blonde hair. Eren tried not to panic.

“Just act natural. Use my name to get yourself out of anything, kind of sounds like you’ve stumbled across a demon bar.”

“A what now? Oh…shit, Hanji, someone’s coming over.”

The guy in the green cape smiled. “Are you talking to Hanji Zoe?” He asked.

Eren frowned, Hanji screeching in his ear. “Yeah, why?”

“Well, she’s in the back if you want to go through.” He smiled.

“Hanji, the guy in the green cape says you’re in the _freaking_ back.” Eren hissed into the phone.

“Ahhhh, follow him, come party with me and Mr.Grumpy-Pants, what a coincidink.” She shouted, the phone going dead instantly. Eren looked down at his cell indignantly.

She’d hung up on him!

“Hanji says that I should go party with her and Mr. Grumpy-Pants?”

The blonde man smiled and motioned for Eren to follow him across the dancefloor, people seemed to move out the way for them as they crossed. A few people glanced at Eren, but nobody really gave him a second look. His tour guide slammed his hand on the wall closest to the stage. A door materialising out of nowhere.

The random blonde was starting to look familiar to Eren, he couldn’t really place where he’d seen him. Maybe at Hanji’s…

“You’re Moblit, right? Hanji’s, for lack of a better word, Lover.” Eren wiggled his eyebrows as the blonde turned to him with wide eyes and a blush starting to settle.

“she didn’t show you the pictures too, did she?” He groaned.

Eren snorted. Feeling a little more comfortable knowing Hanji was only a few paces away. “There’s pictures, Oh Mobi, never let Hanji take pictures. That’s the first rule.”

Moblit deflated slightly. “She’s just in the first room. Just to warn you, she’d probably drunk.”

“I’ve dealt with drunk Hanji before. I think…maybe…I’ll be okay.”

Moblit frowned slightly. “You seem a little familiar too, can’t seem to place you though. What did you say your name was?”

Eren walked past with a grin. “I didn’t. Sorry, Moblit, bad experience with Fae, I don’t give my name out.”

Moblit blinked in surprise as Eren glided past him, knocking on the door once before Hanji opened it and threw herself at Eren, rubbing her cheek against his. She glanced at Moblit with a grin.

“Thanks for finding my little Eren, Mobi. Hope he didn’t cause you too much trouble or sass you too much, he’s a little shit.” She said fondly. She blew kisses to Moblit before dragging Eren into the room.

Moblit took a shuddering breath as the realisation came to him, “Eren…as in Prince Eren?” Moblit laughed slightly and shook his head.

There was no way. Coincidences like that didn’t happen. Plus, he was sure that Eren was currently under lock and key, his watching keeping a close eye on him to make sure he didn’t get into this kind of trouble. Certainly not Hanji trouble, now that would be insane! He was probably just some human Hanji had decided to take in, Just with the same name as the Prince. That’s all, total misunderstanding.

Moblit shrugged to himself and went back to patrolling, shutting the temporal door behind him.

 


End file.
